Page 209 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes bootstrapping opportunity to tackle social discrimination. In other words, if women are provided
with modern information and communication technologies, these digital tools present to them an
opportunity to fight longstanding inequalities in the workplace and at home.
9.2 Women in Ancient India

There are two schools of thought regarding the status of women in ancient India. One school has
described women as “the equals of men”, while the other school holds that women were held not
only in disrespect but even in positive hatred. Both schools refer to several passages from religious
literature to prove their point. Apastamba had prescribed: “All must make a way for a woman when
she is treading a path”. Since we behave in this way for those whom we respect, it indicates the high
esteem in which women were held. Manu had said: “Where the female relations live in grief, the
family soon wholly perishes, but where they are not unhappy, the family ever prospers.” At another
place, Manu had said: “Where women are honoured, the gods are pleased but where they are not
honoured, no sacred rite yields any reward”. Yagnavalkya had said: “Women are the embodiment of
all divine virtues on earth. Soma has bestowed all his purity on them, Gandharva has given them
sweetness of speech and fire has showered all his brilliance to make them most attractive.” Such lofty
ideals about them have been repeated in the Ramayana and the Mahabharta also. In the Mahabharta,
women were held not only as centres of domestic life but also as pivots of entire social organization.
Man was required to bend his will before that of his wife and to serve her and to adore her.
This is one side of the picture. There is other side too. Women were held to be weak-minded and
unworthy of being trusted. They were regarded as means of satisfying the physical desires of men, to
serve them and to secure them progeny. At one place, it is said in the Mahabharta: “There is nothing
that is more sinful than woman. Woman is the root of all evils. There is no creature more sinful than
woman. Woman is a burning fire. She is the illusion that Daitya Maya created. She is the sharp edge
of a razor. She is fire”. In the Ramayana, it is said: “The faces of women are like flowers; their words
are like the drops of honey but their hearts are like sharp razor; the interior of them no one can
know.” The way Manu had wanted men to consider women as things of possession and the way
Drupadi was pawned by Yudhistra in the game of dice, undoubtedly go to prove that in the early
stages of civilization, women were regarded no better than chattels and slaves.
However, the quotations referred to from different religious scriptures cannot be relied upon for
giving the true position of women in the society. They were ‘contextual’, that is, these statements
were given in some context. If Bhishma had said: “Husband should regard his wife as an acquisition”
or if Lord Rama had said: “I can give away all my royal inheritance and even my wife and all that I
value to Bharat of my own free accord”, it was only in some context or in some situation. The real
status of women could be judged by analyzing the social, economic, political and religious rights
they enjoyed.
Women in the Vedic and the Post- Vedic Periods
The social status of women in the Vedic and the post-Vedic periods can be ascertained from the
extent of freedom they enjoyed or the restrictions imposed on them. Women never observed purdah
in the Vedic and the Epic periods. They enjoyed freedom in selecting their mates. They could educate
themselves. Widows were permitted to remarry. Divorce was, however, not permissible to them. But
then it was not permissible to men either. In the household, they enjoyed complete freedom and were
treated as Ardhangnis (better halves). In the Mahabharta, it was mentioned: “The sweet-speeched
wives are their husband’s friends on the occasion of joy; they are as their (husband’s) fathers on
occasions of religious acts; and they are as mothers in hours of illness and woe”. In domestic life,
women used to be supreme. Thus, in the social field, woman’s position was not one of complete
disability but one dictated by justice and fairness.
In the economic field also, women enjoyed freedom. They did not serve and earn wages only because
it was not necessary for them. Home was the place of production. Spinning and weaving of clothes
was done at home. Women helped their husbands in agricultural pursuits also. Some women were
engaged in the teaching work too.

204 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY